The present invention relates generally to skid steer loaders and, more particularly, to improvements in an adjusting mechanism for adjusting the tension in the drive chain.
Skid steer loaders of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,810,517 utilize a drive chain entrained around sprockets associated with the front and back wheels and around drive and idler sprockets. The idler sprocket is movably mounted to take up the slack in the drive chain. The adjusting mechanism utilizes a draw bolt to move a sliding plate connected to a bracket mounting the idler sprocket to vary the drive chain tension. This adjusting mechanism requires that the seal between the sliding plate and the chain case of the loader be subjected to sliding movement when the chain adjuster is operated, resulting in wear and, therefore, leaking seals. Furthermore, it would be desirable to provide an improved chain tightener that would reduce the amount of time and effort that needs to be expended for manually using the adjusting mechanism to vary the tension in the loader chain drive.